MN MIMESIS

Minnesota is a special place to me. These 86,939 square miles1 are home to thousands of lakes, stunning waterfalls, seemingly endless prairie, and gorgeous bluffs. We experience a wide range of weather throughout the year, from sweaty, humid summers to painfully frigid winters. Our sweeping landscapes and climate make Minnesota a truly distinctive place and helped form who I am. As far back as I can remember, my parents took the family on vacations to parks across the state. On a trip to Gooseberry Falls State Park in the summer of 2010, I had the idea to write a piece of music inspired by Minnesota’s state parks. That initial spark of an idea gradually morphed into a larger concept: four movements, each informed by a specific area of land and season, combining acoustic and electronic instrumentation with audio sampled from nature. In 2016 (which is coincidentally the 125th anniversary of Minnesota State Parks and Trails), I was given an opportunity from the Minnesota State Arts Board to make my idea a reality. Between February and October, I visited Lake Maria State Park, Gooseberry Falls State Park, Blue Mounds State Park, and Itasca State Park, one park per season. At each site, I collected sounds from things like birds, wind blowing through trees, snow crunching beneath my feet, rivers. I brought those sounds home, manipulated them, and played them alongside traditional instruments like violin and synthesizer. Nearly every aspect of this music was informed by Minnesota’s unique character. Each movement’s general arc, lyrics, and instrumentation was somehow influenced by this place, therefore the title, MN Mimesis (“the imitative representation of nature or human behavior”2), seemed fitting. The project turned into more of a collaboration than I had initially planned, and it greatly benefited from that. My brother, Collin, wrote some beautiful poetry that I adapted for the vocal sections of the piece. Minnesota musicians from classical, jazz, pop, country and folk backgrounds contributed their unique perspectives to this music, creating something much more interesting than anything I could have done on my own. My other brother, filmmaker Justin Tholl, visited all four parks with me and created a visual adaptation of the music. MN Mimesis would never have happened without these generous collaborators and their artistic commitment. In recent years, I’ve found myself more and more distracted by technology and spending less time outdoors. This project was an excuse to get outside and visit incredible spaces right here in Minnesota. Hopefully it might help inspire you to do the same. Thank you so much for spending the time to read these ramblings and listen to this music. I hope you enjoy MN Mimesis. Sincerely, Tyler Tholl

1 http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/faq/mnfacts/land.html 2 “mimesis.” CollinsDictionary.com. 2016. http://www.collinsdictionary.com (1 May 2016)

I. Summer Buzzers (feat. PaviElle French) Field recordings collected on July 2nd, 2016 at Blue Mounds State Park, Luverne, MN Erica Burton: Viola PaviElle French: Vocals Dave Herdan: Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet Bubba Hollenhorst: Alto Saxophone Pete James Johnson: Drums Josh Misner: Violin Jesse Peterson: Violin Tyler Tholl: Additional Vocals, Field Recordings, Guitar, Hammered Dulcimer, Percussion, Q Chord, Samples, Synthesizer



bird call cacophony layers of buzzers (summer buzzers)



hymn of cicada hidden old age (summer buzzers)



Summer Buzzers Summer Buzzzers Summer Buzzzzers Summer Buzzzzzers

II. Earth Exhales (feat. Paul Spring) Field recordings collected on October 1st, 2016 at Itasca State Park, Park Rapids, MN Dave Herdan: Bass Clarinet Pete James Johnson: Drums Dan Lawonn: Cello Joe Savage: Pedal Steel Paul Spring: Vocals Tyler Tholl: Autoharp, Banjo, Bass, Dobro, Field Recordings, Guitars, Mountain Dulcimer, Ocarina, Percussion, Pocket Operator Sub, Pump Organ, Samples, Synthesizer, Violin

dirt sleeps defeated leaves on their backs each earth exhales reminders of our coming collision with the night dirt sleeps dirt sleeps

III. Pattern (feat. Nicole Wilder) Field recordings collected on February 13th, 2016 at Lake Maria State Park, Monticello, MN Bill Blatzheim: Trumpet Erica Burton: Viola Nora Kain: Additional Vocal Josh Misner: Violin Jesse Peterson: Violin Joe Savage: Pedal Steel Nick Syman: Trombone Tyler Tholl: Additional Vocal, Autoharp, Field Recordings, Glockenspiel, Guitar, Organ, Q Chord, Samples, Synthesizer Nicole Wilder: Vocals



circles once seamless remedies renounced pattern laid flawed

‘til muted mouth of sky met dusted tips of pines

IV. Awake (feat. Brian Just) Field recordings collected on April 30th, 2016 at Gooseberry Falls State Park, Two Harbors, MN Erica Burton: Viola Dave Herdan: Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Clarinet Brian Just: Vocals Ellen Kain: Bassoon, Flute Dan Lawonn: Cello Josh Misner: Violin Jesse Peterson: Violin Joe Savage: Pedal Steel Tyler Tholl: Bass, Fender Rhodes, Field Recordings, Guitar, Lap Harp, Percussion, Q Chord, Samples, Synthesizer, Toy Mallets

flowers’ heads bob awake from some choked off dream unreal songs wouldn’t now escape their green throats petals will dash dash their chorus swallowed whole

Music written, recorded, and mixed by Tyler Tholl Lyrics written by Collin Tholl Mastered by Huntley Miller at HM Mastering Cover art and photography by Jon Klaye Instruments were recorded in Tyler’s basement except: Drums recorded in The Skeleton Room by Pete James Johnson Cello recorded in Dan Lawonn’s basement by Mr. Lawonn himself Brian Just’s voice was recorded in Brian Just’s basement by Brian Just Hammered Dulcimer and Fender Rhodes recorded at EchoBoys Studio Additional vocal arrangements in “Summer Buzzers” written by PaviElle French Additional cello arrangements in “Earth Exhales” written by Dan Lawonn THANK YOU: All of the ridiculously talented musicians that I was lucky enough to collaborate with on this recording, Nora, Corene and Ada, Justin, Collin, Baba and Grammy for watching the girls while I worked on this thing, Ryan Smith, Megan Vetsch Johnson, Jon Klaye, Tom Lecher and the whole EchoBoys gang for being so cool, Huntley Miller, Dave Sweet, the Minnesota State Arts Board for making this project possible, Amy Barrett, the staff at Minnesota State Parks, and my parents for introducing me to the beauty of Minnesota’s wild spaces. Because this project is largely about respect for land - the same land that was taken from indigenous people living in what has become Minnesota - I want to extend that respect to the eleven tribal nations in this area. Please visit the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council website, mn.gov/indianaffairs, and the National Congress of American Indians website, ncai.org, to learn more.

Tyler Tholl is a fiscal year 2016 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.